BWCA Northern Lights Lake - East of Quetico Boundary Waters Trip Planning Forum
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11/28/2017 08:08AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I sent a note to my canoe partners last week and pointed out the we have "been to the Boundary Point area 14 of the last 17 years". I threw out suggestions for moving us out of our comfort zone a little,

One suggestion was to check out Northern Lights Lake Crown Land.

I would like to hear from someone who has been to the area. No campsites or portages are marked on the maps I have. How are they? What would you suggest seeing? We are mostly a fishing group, less about touring and traveling. What is the best way in and out of Northern Lights?

Any feedback and info is appreciated.
 
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GraniteCliffs
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11/28/2017 04:31PM  
I spent a couple of nights there. About 45 years ago that is.
All I remember was a sand beach campsite, a gravel road a ways behind the campsite and a resort at the end of the gravel road.
The resort sold beer. We were young. We found a way to get to the resort and back.
salukiguy
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11/30/2017 12:19PM  
My very first trip was through Northern Lights Lake many years ago. I don't know what it is like now. Likely you will see motor boats but back then we didnt see any. It is a lot of paddling and very few portages which was good for us because we brought too much stuff. We even had a canvas tent. We did a loop through the northern part of Saganaga then back down Northern Lights. In those days there was a customs station on Saganaga that we had to process through. I remember doing some long paddles in the Grumman tanker with 3 of us paddling.
12/01/2017 12:00PM  
there is a campground/resort on the lake. it is completely motorized. no live bait unless purchased in canada and you have a receipt to prove it.

Crown Land camping fees are PER person PER night, so that can get quite spendy.
for the price you might be better off renting a cabin.
Canadian fishing licenses.

if you are driving to northern light lake you'd pass through customs at pigeon river so you'd all need your passports but wouldn't need to get the RABC (you would need this if you chose to paddle Saganaga to Northern Lights Lake.)
Bearskin Lodge
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12/02/2017 11:13AM  
Crown land permits are more $ than the BWCA, less than the Quetico. Robert at Red Pine Outfitters is a good person to talk to about the area. Depending on what kind of service you used from him you might not need to pay crown land fees.

Get dropped of at Koss lake and paddle the Weikwabinonaw to Northern Light, than spend a day or two there. You'll see motor boats, but fishing should be good. The river is stunning. There are good portages from Koss lake down, but it's more fun with some moving water skills.

Quinn
12/02/2017 06:15PM  
Thanks for the info. The per person, per night camping seems excessive for Crown Land, but they make the rules. Perhaps partial outfitting with a Canadian would be cheaper... something to look into. "you might be better off renting a cabin."... good thing my partners aren't reading that comment!
12/06/2017 09:55PM  
I think Northern lights lake gets a lot of boat traffic it is a well known walleye lake, check out the Hawg board at Seagull Creek.

T
 
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